Peñíscola

People have lived on this rocky outcrop for a very long time. Archaeological sites nearby point to Iberian settlement, and Phoenician and Greek traders followed by sea, the Greeks called the place Chersonesos, meaning peninsula, and the Romans latinised it into something close to the name it bears today. Through the early medieval centuries Peñíscola was a Muslim stronghold, described by Arab geographers as an impregnable sea castle with farmland, water and important salt flats.

It fell peacefully to James I of Aragon in 1233, and in 1251 he granted it a charter that transferred land to Christian settlers and set the town on a more prosperous footing. The Templar castle was built between 1294 and 1307 on the remains of the Arab fortress, promoted by the Master of the Order of the Temple in Aragon and Catalonia. Then came the episode that defined the town in the wider world: Pedro Martínez de Luna, the Avignon pope known as Pope Luna, arrived in Peñíscola on 21 June, exiled and unrecognised, but refusing to resign during the Western Schism, and lived out his papacy here in the castle above the sea.

The Templar castle is the obvious starting point, but Peñíscola's historic quarter has several other things worth seeking out. The town walls were commissioned by Philip II and designed by the Italian military architect Giovanni Battista Antonelli, built between 1576 and 1578. Of the three gateways into the old town, the Portal Fosc, also called the Gate of Philip II, built in 1578, is attributed to the architect Juan de Herrera.

The Portal of San Pedro, or Gate of Pope Luna, dates from 1414 and carries the stone coat of arms of Pedro Martínez de Luna at its centre; it was once the entrance from the sea, when boats could pull up at the ramp below. The parish church of Santa María has Gothic tracery and elements of Romanesque tradition; it is also where Alonso de Borja, later Pope Calixtus III, was named bishop. The hermitage of the Virgen de la Ermitana, beside the castle, houses the image of the town's patron saint and has a baroque stone façade.

There is also a Sea Museum covering fishing and navigation from antiquity onward. Beyond the walls, the Sierra de Irta Natural Park protects what the source describes as the last 14 km of unspoilt Mediterranean coastline between France and Cabo de Gata in Almería.

Peñíscola is a walled old town on a rocky headland pushed out into the Mediterranean, crowned by a Templar castle 64 metres above the sea. The Greeks called it Chersonesos, meaning peninsula, and the Romans turned that into something close to today's name. Below the castle, a warren of medieval lanes fills the rock, with surprises such as the bufador, a blowhole.

The Templars built the castle between 1294 and 1307 over an Arab fortress, and it later became the home of Pope Luna, Pedro Martínez de Luna, who refused to resign during the Western Schism and lived out his papacy here. The walls were designed for Philip II by Giovanni Battista Antonelli, and the Portal of San Pedro, dated 1414, was once the entrance from the sea. Look for the church of Santa María, with its Gothic tracery, and the Casa de las Conchas, its facade covered in shells.

Peñíscola joined Los Pueblos Más Bonitos de España in 2013. The label is awarded by a private association, not the state: a village applies and is audited against around 40 criteria, from how its historic buildings are conserved to the upkeep of its streets, and members are reviewed and can lose it. Peñíscola is one of 6 members in Comunidad Valenciana, out of 126 in Spain. See all heritage towns in Comunidad Valenciana.